New laminate flooring technologies are providing margin-enhancing opportunities for dealers and offering visible reasons for consumers to step up from commodity products.

"You can't compare builder-grade carpet with Karastan,bCrLf said Craig Stromer, director of sales at Faus. "Likewise, you can't judge laminate based on what's available for $0.69 at home centers.bCrLf

Faus has taken its advanced laminate surface visuals with embossed-in-registration (EIR) technology one step further with its new Convex Texture. Where EIR presses wood grains into planks to create depth, Convex Texture raises wood grain visuals and presses the rest of the plank surface. The patented technology is used in Faus' Cosmopolitan Collection.

"Convex creates a raised-grain affect which mirrors an old floor,bCrLf said Stromer. "You can see the difference right away.bCrLf

Utilizing movable saw blades, Mannington's Variable Edge technology cuts irregular and non-repeating edge characteristics for its best-selling Time Crafted Maple and Time Crafted Walnut lines. "This technology allows us to create a level of realism that no one else has,bCrLf said David Sheehan, vice president of resilient and laminate business for Mannington. "Some heavy EIR actually detracts from a product's visual. Variable Edge is subtle, but a game changer.bCrLf

Differentiation also exists within the emerging seven-foot laminate niche. Bruce's Sapele Long Plank, for example, features an exotic oil finish as well as handscraping across its width and length.
"Getting press plates to get the handscraped wave pattern in two directions and an oil finish was not easy to do, but it makes a big difference,bCrLf said Milton Goodwin, vice president of Armstrong's residential floor product division, which also manages Bruce.

Executives at Mannington — which has incorporated Variable Edge technology and long planks into its laminate assortment — will start applying second generation technology, including EIR, to more value-oriented products.

"As new technology comes on line and becomes integrated into the best products, we can begin to add technological value to middle or better ones,bCrLf said Sheehan.